Internet users throughout the world, and particularly in the United States, have long been chastened to hear of South Korea's legendary broadband penetration. The urbanized, technologically-advanced nation has been famous for rolling out ultra high speed network for the majority of its citizens, and many of us have looked on with envy. However, it turns out it's not all good news. An OSNews reader gives us the skinny from the trenches in Korea.

Living in South Korea could be a hassle for anybody relying on the internet, especially for me who just started to live in this country and reporting the situation. South Korea still uses ActiveX for their daily internet usage, so Internet Explorer today is the only de facto browser of choice in South Korea. Thus, most of the internet cafes (PC-bang in Korean) installs Windows XP on their computers with a semi-predicted surprise.

Then there is the Registration Number System or i-PIN for the majority of South Korean websites if you want to use their services. As you know, the internet-related usage of one's private identification number very often leads to multitude of frauds from leaking one's financial information, residential address, and family relations. This kind of crime is very rampant over here, believe it or not. That's not all: internet in South Korea often encounters so many social issues that the South Korean government tries to stamp down anonymity. Yes, South Korea is a democratic country on paper. However not many people know that it is one of the biggest internet police states in the world (without any help from Google or Microsoft).

Although I'm using old news examples to explain the big picture, it could be worse as foreigners in South Korea encounter horrible experiences over this particular online environment.